Gods Don't Bleed
by izzyxgurl77
Summary: There's a new comer to El Dorado and Tzekel-Kan has taken quite an interest in her. Tzekel-Kan/OC *rated M for later chapters* REVIEW PLEASE!
1. A Priestess

Gods Don't Bleed: Tzekel-Kan

Info Chapter

Name: Erendira (pronounced aay-rahn-dee-rah)

Eye Color: Hazel

Height: 5'6"

Hair: Black, and up in a bun

Outfit: Similar to Tzekel-Kan's, except blue with gold trim, longer cloth around waist, a tube top-like cloth around chest, blue and gold earrings, blue and gold necklace, and gold bands around biceps

Place in Story: New-Comer to El Dorado

*The story takes place before Miguel & Tulio get to El Dorado*

Characters Used: Tzekel-Kan, Erendira, Chief Tannabok, and the citizens of El Dorado

* * *

The high priest awakens from a long nights sleep. He lifts his weary head from his pillow and looks around, trying to adjust his eyes to the daylight. Tzekel-Kan rather disliked the process of waking up in the morning, but once he got fully awake he felt like his usual self.

Once he regained all his senses, he heard the faint sound of music and chattering voices. A celebration? For what? But then he reminded himself that the non-believers of El Dorado would use anything as an excuse to celebrate. It made his skin crawl. Slowly, he raises his muscular body from his blankets and stands up.

Tzekel-Kan slides his slender fingers through his long obsidian hair. He finds that to be quite soothing on his scalp. He then puts his hair up in the usual style and walks to the entrance to his temple. He looks down on the people he loathes and sees them singing and dancing like fools. Some of them to drunk to even stand. He idly wonders what kind of torture or sacrifice they should suffer to make up to the gods for their foolish behavior.

"Disgusting…" he muttered to himself as he stepped out into the early morning sun. He figured that he should go see what the fuss was about (and why it was going on so early). When he finally reached the party, he saw immediately what the celebration was about. Apparently there was a new comer to the city. There was a young woman in the midst of all the familiar faces he'd never seen before. And by the looks of it she was being welcomed with food, pulque, and hospitality. But Tzekel-Kan knew that she would be the same as every other person in El Dorado; lazy, selfish, and over-indulgent. Not giving anything to the gods that graciously gave us this city and the life we live.

Then suddenly, a drunken man stumbled up to him and said "Tzekel-Kan *belch* sir! Have you met Erendira?"

Tzekel-Kan shoved the drunken man out of his way, ignoring everything he said. He was going to have a word with Chief Tannabok about all this nonsense. As the high priest was working his way through the crowd, people around him stopped what they were doing and tried to look somewhat decent. Most of the citizens of El Dorado were scared to death of Tzekel-Kan. As he made his way to the chief, someone roughly bumped into him, knocking him off course. When he looked around to find the source of the unwanted physical contact, he found the unfamiliar face in the crowd.

She stood before him with an apologetic look on her face and gasped "I'm terribly sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Tzekel-Kan spat indignantly. "So you must be the foreigner?"

"Yes I am. The name's Erendira. Might I ask who you are?" she asked gingerly.

"I am Tzekel-Kan, high priest and speaker for the gods." He said this in such a way that implies that she should already know who he is.

She smiled and replied "I was a priestess in Tikal."

This sparked Tzekel-Kan's interest. 'Hmmm, a priestess. I wonder what her city's rituals and policies were. Every city is different.' he thought to himself.

"Why have you come to El Dorado?" he inquired.

"I was looking for something new. I was growing tired of my city's people and their methods of worship. I had heard of this beautiful city and wanted to find out if it's as great as everyone says it is. " Erendira had a look of excitement on her face.

"Well it seems you and I have similar feelings about the people that inhabit our cities." Tzekel-Kan purred, a devilish smile growing wider upon his handsome face.

And before Erendira could think of a response, the priest spoke.

"May I be so bold as to make you an offer?" the priest asked. All the while giving her such a look that made Erendira nervous and curious all at the same time.

"Sure. What is it?" she said anxiously.

Tzekel-Kan replied, "How would you like to be beside me as a high priestess here in El Dorado?"

The look on Erendira's soft face brightened instantly. She's always wanted to become a high priestess. Being closer to the gods and having all that stature and power has always appealed to her.

"Yes! I'd love to!" she said excitedly. "But I would need more training and experience."

"I'd be happy to teach you." Tzekel-Kan said smoothly. "We'll start…say…early morning tomorrow in my temple?"

The smile on Erendira's face grew wider. 'This man is so generous', she thought to herself.

"Sounds perfect. I'll be there." She said, barely able to control the happiness bursting inside of her.

The high priest smiled and said in a voice nearly inaudible amongst the party, "See you tomorrow…" and walked away.

As Tzekel-Kan walked back up to his temple, Erendira studied his appearance. His shoulder-length black hair in a ponytail, the unique bone structure of his face and the tattoos across the bridge of his nose and his chin, his deep brown eyes, and the muscular body underneath his red and gold wardrobe.

He was quite handsome. 'But I must not let that get in the way of my goal. They may not even allow priests and priestesses to have lovers here.' Erendira shook the thoughts from her head and headed back to her new home she was assigned when she arrived. She must get all her belongings in place and turn in early for her big day tomorrow.

Back in his temple, Tzekel-Kan thought about this foreign woman. "Erendira *hmm* the one who smiles. Beautiful name." he spoke out loud to himself. "Perhaps I can make this woman see that humans are horrid creatures and they deserve to be devoured piece by piece at the hands of the divinities. But I don't know if I can trust her. We'll see how devoted to the gods she really is." The priest chuckled softly to himself and drifted off into daydreams of chaos and suffering.


	2. The First Lesson

The sun arose the next morning with white hot intensity, the light refracting beautifully off the golden buildings and statues of the city. The sight was breath taking. At the first glimpse of daylight, Erendira's eyes shot wide open. Though overall she slept well, it was not a deep sleep. Her body would not let her fully lose consciousness due to the deep down excitement she felt about her first lesson.

She stood up from her bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Tzekel-Kan would be expecting her soon. She had to prepare. 'I can not just walk up to the high priest's temple and expect him to teach me looking like this!' she thought to herself. So she quickly got dressed, put on all her golden jewelry, fixed her hair up in the usual bun, and headed out.

As she got closer and closer to his temple, Erendira felt more and more anxious. A million butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach, making her queasy. She had to stop herself for a few moments to take a deep breath and to reassure herself that everything would be fine.

Off in the distance, Chief Tannabok noticed Erendira walking to Tzekel-Kan's temple. This worried him deeply. Tzekel-Kan usually doesn't like anyone up there. And when he did allow it, he was either teaching people his fanatic views because he saw that person as someone he could manipulate or he was interested in giving that person over to the gods as a sacrifice. He didn't want Tzekel-Kan's fanatic and violent behavior to rub off on such a sweet woman. But he could do nothing about it. The most he could do was to talk to her.

At this point, Erendira was at the threshold to the priest's temple. She could not see anyone inside. She did not want to just barge in so she shouted "Hello? Tzekel-Kan?" But no response.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the mysterious man walk down the stairs to the main room of his temple. A surprisingly welcome smile on his face.

"You made it." Tzekel-Kan muttered, almost in a whisper.

The sound of his deep, silky voice sent shivers down the young priestess' body. Ever since she first met this man, she has gotten a sense of something dark or imposing coming from him. Being near him made her nervous. Maybe it was his intelligence or the way he spoke. Maybe it was the smooth and graceful way he moved or the power and stature of his priesthood. Or maybe it was the dark deepness of his eyes. It seemed as though his eyes could see into your very soul. Even though she was nervous, Erendira was very much intrigued by this man.

Then, panic overcame the priestess when she saw Tzekel-Kan begin to walk across the large, spacious room towards her.

He stopped a few inches away from her and softly said "Step aside please."

She did as he told her and moved away. He then walked over to the small wooden table she was standing in front of and grabbed a book. A wave of embarrassment came over Erendira as she realized what a fool she had just made herself look like.

"I'm sorry." She said sheepishly.

Tzekel-Kan looked up from the codex of gods he had immersed himself in and spoke.

"Erendira, you must relax. You can not meditate and listen to the gods in such a state. What is making you so nervous?" As he gently said those words, a taunting grin formed on his face. Almost as if the priest knew that he was the source of Erendira's anxiety.

"Follow me." Tzekel-Kan said in a strictly business manor.

"Yes sir." Were the only words the young woman could muster as she quietly followed the high priest with her head down like an obedient pet. They walked up a large flight of stone steps leading to an observatory on the very top of Tzekel-Kan's temple. It was a huge round room with one central window. It was here were Tzekel-Kan looked to the heavens and interpreted the stars.

The priest sat Erendira down in the middle of the room and promptly sat down himself, just a few feet across from her. She looked to her left and noticed an assortment of things lying on the floor: a small pile of books, a knife, barbed wire, and idols of the gods Xochiquetzal and Tepeyollotl.

There were a few moments of silence as Tzekel-Kan positioned himself comfortably on the floor. And in this time, Erendira took it upon herself to pick up one the books in the pile and begin flipping through the pages. She didn't recognize anything in this book. The contents were that of chants and random ingredients for potions. 'I've never seen anything like this.' the young woman whispered to herself.

Suddenly, Tzekel-Kan broke the silence, making her jump.

"Now Erendira, I'm sure you know about the process of bloodletting. Am I correct?"

"I've only practiced it but a few times. But I am familiar with the ritual." She answered.

Erendira personally disliked bloodletting (simply because it's so painful). In her former city, she had cut her arms and legs (which is nothing compared to cutting the ears, tongue, and lips like the other priests practiced). But even though the process was agonizing, the gods deserved their fair share.

"Do you know why the gods demand blood?" Tzekel-Kan asked, breaking the priestess out of her thoughts.

"Because gods don't bleed." She replied, without giving it any thought.

A serpentine smile appeared on the high priest's face as he reached his hand over to knife Erendira had seen on the floor a few moments ago. He picked it up with his tapered fingers and quickly slashed a cut into his forearm. Tzekel-Kan let out a small grunt of pain and exhaled as the crimson blood began to flow out onto the floor. Then, Erendira could not believe her eyes as swirls of green light began to intertwine in his wound and it vanished, as if he had never taken the blade to his arm. It had happened so fast that she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. The look of astonishment on the young woman's face made Tzekel-Kan chuckle.

"Incredible isn't it? With one simple spell I can heal any injury. All thanks to the gods."

At this point Erendira was speechless. She still could not believe the wonder she had just witnessed.

"Now it's your turn." Tzekel-Kan purred as he slowly handed Erendira the now bloody knife.

The young priestess reluctantly took the blade in her hand. She calmly began to start an incision in the same place Tzekel-Kan had before but he stopped her.

"Your thigh…" Tzekel-Kan whispered to her. He was so close that Erendira could feel the hotness of his breath upon her face.

Everything inside of her was screaming for her not to do this but she dare not disobey this powerful man or the gods themselves. So, without hesitation, Erendira lowered the blade to her left thigh and swiftly cut into the flesh. She let out a moan of pain and began to hold her wound. Tzekel-Kan reached over to her and moved the woman's hand away so the blood could seep out and drip onto the floor.

"Good. Most of the citizens in this city would have been so selfish as to refuse." Tzekel-Kan grumbled.

"Humans are disgusting. So selfish and arrogant! They refuse to give back anything to the gods that graciously gave us this city so they can continue their life of laziness. They lie, cheat and steal. They are spineless and weak. Humans are imperfect." The priest hissed, with a look of utter displeasure on his face.

"What has a mere mortal ever done for you?" the man pressed.

And before the shocked young woman in front of him had time to respond, a Jaguar Warrior barged in and exclaimed

"Tzekel-Kan! Chief Tannabok wants to have a word with you. He said it's urgent."

Tzekel-Kan's nose began to curl and he growled words under his breath. He stood up and glared at the warrior and scolded, "This better be important."

The angered priest looked back down at Erendira and sighed, "We'll continue this tomorrow." and beckoned her to follow him and the warrior down the stairs and out of his temple. She nodded and stood up. The jaguar warrior was rushing Tzekel-Kan so by the time Erendira made it down the enormous flight of stairs, they were both gone.

As she was walking home, the young priestess was pensive. Replaying everything Tzekel-Kan had told her about the human race. She was thinking of all of her lives' experiences, trying to figure out whether she agreed or not. After an enormous argument inside her head, she could only come to one conclusion…he was right…


End file.
